Ladies in the Field

PROTECTING YOUNG HUNTERS IS A PASSION

By: Meredith Kay

When you grow up on a ranch in West Texas as a little girl, you are bound to become tough and resilient. Amanda Burnes grew up in Midland, and her family spent a lot of time on their ranch just outside of Abilene. Hunting and fishing and being outdoors was a way of life for her family, and she loved to spend time with her dad, who taught her and her brother about gun safety from an early age. Amanda’s father worked in the oil fields and would often be away from home, so when he was home, she learned to enjoy the same outdoor activities that he loved, and they built a strong bond that still holds fast today.

Growing up on a ranch, Amanda also learned about and became passionate about the land and the wildlife of West Texas. Together, her family would spend time camping, fishing, and hunting whitetail deer, mule deer, dove, and other game. She speaks fondly of her childhood and remembers these times spent with her family as moments that brought them closer together. Now that she has two children of her own, she feels that it is important to instill the same values and respect for the outdoor life she learned growing up. Married to her husband, Clayton, for over ten years, they are raising a pair of rambunctious six-yearold twins, Lucy and Copeland, in the community of Aledo, just southwest of Fort Worth. Clayton grew up in rural Brady, Texas, where ranch life was the only way of life. Today, Amanda and her husband are still avid outdoors enthusiasts, spending as much time as possible on their ranches with the twins. One of the ranches is in Blanket, just Southeast of Abilene, and the other family ranch is in Rotan, which is Northeast of Abilene. The family loves to go fishing on the property, where they catch and release everything they hook, and they have also begun to teach the children how to hunt safely. This past deer season, Clayton and Copeland bagged their first whitetail deer together. It was Copeland, himself, who rattled and called the deer out so that his dad could shoot it. He was very proud of that moment and is already excited for next season.

From the time the twins were born, Amanda and Clayton wanted to raise them to love the outdoor life, but Amanda was concerned, as new mothers often are, about how to protect her babies from the damaging effects of the hot Texas sun. Doctors will often tell parents that sunscreen isn’t good for babies and young children, so she looked for other ways to protect them, leading her to learn about sun protective clothing and eventually launching her own outdoor clothing line for children.

lack of protective clothing that embodied the spirit of Texas ranch life. There was an abundance of greatlooking hunting attire for adults, but she could never find clothing that allowed little boys to look “just like daddy” on the ranch. She realized that swimwear lines and rash guards utilized sun-protective materials for children, so she took that idea and launched BlueQuail Clothing Co. in 2015.

Amanda wanted to create clothing that was not only comfortable for kids but also offered sun protection for those long days on the ranch. She hired a consultant who specialized in the retail clothing industry and set out to research fabric options while testing sun protection levels and garment treatment processes. She explains, “I wanted to create a brand of children’s clothing that kids would love to wear. The fabrics had to be soft and comfortable but also stain-resistant and durable. Sun protection was essential, so I tried to find the highest quality fabrics that were woven tightly enough to be rated UPF50+.”

Amanda’s biggest inspiration for incorporating highquality sun protection fabrics into her clothing lines comes from her father, who continues to battle skin cancer caused by years of sun exposure when he was younger. The importance of sun protection wasn’t something her father’s generation knew about, and she wanted to create clothing that will protect a child’s skin from harmful UV rays while “encouraging selfexpression and a love for the great outdoors.” Some of the shirts are even hand-stitched with hunting rifle shoulder patches to protect young hunters as they learn proper form and techniques from the generations of outdoorsmen before them.

The company name, BlueQuail, is a nod to her childhood in West Texas, where quail were a protected species because they were beginning to disappear. Amanda also describes that quail are unique in that the females will protect each other’s nests and babies. Quail coveys work together as extended families, keeping everyone safe from harm and predators. That is the very essence of the BlueQuail clothing line, and it is also Amanda’s mission as she raises two more successful ranchers and shares her vision with others.